Cheeky marketing experts have been telling businesses to tap into their customer’s psyche ever since the dawn of time. Get the psychology sorted, they say, and clients will flock to you in numbers you can’t imagine.
Perhaps the hype is a little over the top. But the principle remains the same: hacking a person’s psyche to deliver what they want and to get them to think about you all the time is a great way to get ahead of your competitors.
What’s interesting about all this stuff is just how well-researched it is. Many of the psychological lessons we’re about to discuss come with bags of science to back them up. These aren’t just a bunch of hearsay from so-called marketing gurus: they’re actual methods proven to work by data.
Use The Power Of Labels
Behavioural researchers have been investigating the power of labels for some time. In one study, they randomly allocated people with the label “politically active” to see if it had an effect on their voting behaviour. Sure enough, it did: people who were labelled politically active were 15 percent more likely to vote, despite being selected at random.
The experiment taught marketers an important lesson. It showed them that labelling customers as in some way superior could ultimately affect their actions. That might be why we see so many VIP or premium services with so many brands.
Make Their Brain “Light Up” Instantly
Experts in audio branding know that the most powerful way to light up the brain on an MRI scan is to use sound. Sound has an uncanny ability to worm its way into people’s brains, forcing them to remember your company. Why do you think so many businesses that are otherwise uninspiring add a jingle to the end of their adverts? They’ve discovered over the decades that music works, and once people have heard it, they can’t forget it.
Understand Your Buyers
According to neuroeconomic experts, there are three different types of buyers: spendthrifts who love to splash out on stuff all the time, tightwads who’d rather die than part with their hard earned cash, and regular spenders.
The companies that do well are the ones that are able to simultaneously appeal to all three groups. The hardest of the three groups to get to hand over their money is the tightwads. Experts recommend reframing deals for these people by doing things like bundling up services, making a point of yearly versus monthly discounts and avoiding small fees.
Admit Problems Upfront
Companies will do anything to avoid telling their customers that they are failing them in any particular area. But according to psychologist Fiona Lee, avoiding discussing your failings with your customers is a bad idea. She says that the companies that build the most trust with their customers are the ones that admit that they are the source of their client’s problems, rather than some other, external factor. What was surprising about Lee’s findings was that it didn’t matter whether a company’s problems actually were caused by something outside of the business’s control. Customers were more likely to trust the firm if they were seen to be taking an issue seriously and doing something about it.
